The drama between Ray Fisher and Warner Bros. has only gotten more convoluted and complicated over the past several months. After the “Justice League” actor first spoke out about the “abuse” he witnessed during the reshoots of the superhero film from producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, as well as filmmaker Joss Whedon, people have been waiting for details. Thankfully, in a new interview with Forbes, Fisher not only talks about the on-set issues but details his fight and how it’s escalated to include one of the biggest studios in the world.
READ MORE: Ray Fisher Reportedly Began War With WB After Only Being Offered A Cameo In ‘The Flash’
The issues seem to begin all the way back in 2017, when Warner Bros. announced that Zack Snyder chose Joss Whedon to take over the reshoots of “Justice League” after the former had to step away to handle a personal matter. Apparently, Fisher said, this was a fabrication.
“For one thing, the cast and crew were told that Zack had handpicked Joss to finish the film for him,” said Fisher. “I didn’t find out until after the reshoots that that was a complete lie.”
He added, “I heard whispers and rumblings of things being off behind the scenes, but nothing concrete until much later. They had us go out to San Diego Comic-Con in 2017 and say Zack picked Joss and that Joss was a great guy. I still have the email with those talking points.”
But one of the main issues that sent Fisher into the fight against the “Justice League” folks is the racism he discovered during the reshoots.
“The erasure of people of color from the 2017 theatrical version of ‘Justice League’ was neither an accident nor coincidence,” the actor said.
“What set my soul on fire and forced me to speak out about Joss Whedon this summer was my becoming informed that Joss had ordered that the complexion of an actor of color be changed in post-production because he didn’t like the color of their skin tone,” Fisher added. “Man, with everything 2020’s been, that was the tipping point for me.”
Fisher went on to say that “blatantly racist” conversations were had before the reshoots of “Justice League” between Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich, producer Jon Berg, and former DC Films executive Geoff Johns. The actor said that he was made aware of these discussions after he came forward about his issues with Joss Whedon. But looking back, he knows the information is true.
“I realized that the notes I ended up getting from Johns during reshoots were just a coded version of the racist things he was saying behind closed doors with the other execs,” he said.
In addition to the allegations of racism, Fisher goes on to explain there were “massive blowups, threats, coercion, taunting, unsafe work conditions, belittling, and gaslighting like you wouldn’t believe” during the reshoots.
“Geoff Johns made a veiled threat to my career during the LA reshoots of Justice League,” Fisher said. “Multiple sources have informed me that Joss threatened the career of another person associated with the production. Toby was made aware and tried to cover for Whedon rather than deal with the abuse. That situation had to be escalated to [Kevin] Tsujihara to get any results.”
The interview with Fisher is notable because it’s the first detailed account from the actor about the issues he’s been teasing on social media over the past several months. He’s done plenty to call out the issues with Jon Berg, Geoff Johns, and Joss Whedon, but he’s never gone into detail about what exactly they did. And if these accusations are correct, the news is pretty bad for the folks at WB.